Megan Dodds
Quick Facts
Biography
Megan Lynne Dodds (born February 15, 1970) is a British-American actress. She is perhaps best known for her role as Kate in the 2006 series Not Going Out, alongside Lee Mack and Tim Vine. Based in the United Kingdom, her other notable works include multi-episode appearances in the series Spooks, House, Detroit 1-8-7, and CSI: NY, and roles in the filmsEver After, The Contract, and Chatroom. Dodds' stage work includes having played the title role in the stage production My Name is Rachel Corrie (2006), which won the London Theatregoers' Choice Award for Best Actress in that year.
Early life
Megan Lynne Dodds was born on February 15, 1970, in Sacramento, California. After high school, she enrolled in a community college, where she was cast as Bananas in John Guare's The House of Blue Leaves. She next went to Juilliard School, where she studied for four years as a member of the Drama Division's Group 24 (1991–1995).
Career
After graduation, Dodds spent two years in Broadway and Off Broadway productions. She left the U.S. for London in 1997 to star in British comedian Ben Elton's play Popcorn. As a result of meeting her future husband, photographer Oliver Pearce, she stayed in London, about which she has said, "I love it here, I really feel like I learn a lot. There’s a lot of variety in terms of work."
Theatre
In Up for Grabs (2006, Wyndham's Theatre, London), Dodds filled the role of a dot com entrepreneur, co-starring with Madonna, which played to a lack of critical success for the headliner, but that nevertheless saw Dodds grouped, positively, with "strong supporting players", as Mindy, Madonna's seductress, where she was described as combining "sexiness and solitude".
Dodds won the London Theatregoers' Choice Award for Best Actress in 2007 for the one woman show My Name is Rachel Corrie, about an activist killed by an Israeli bulldozer during a 2003 demonstration in Gaza. The show opened at the Royal Court Theatre in London. A move was planned to the New York Theatre Workshop, but it was cancelled in Fall 2005—amid rumors that the Workshop feared possible response to the show's political content. Dodds fought against the imposed indefinite delay, and the debate of censorship on such a sensitive issue at the time of the post-Iraq war debate became publicised by The New York Times. After a successful run in London's West End, the show eventually played to a sellout audience at the off-Broadway Minetta Lane Theatre in early 2006.
Television and film
Dodds has appeared in television shows such as Love in a Cold Climate (2001), the BBC series Spooks (in the U.S., MI-5; 2002-2004), and Viva Blackpool. Dodds was a part of the first series cast of the BBC One sitcom, Not Going Out in 2006 as Kate, the flatmate of the lead character Lee Mack, leaving the show after the first series.
Dodds portrayeda "more conventionally beautiful" Marguerite as stepsister to Cinderella in Ever After (1998), a romance where Dodds' character is further described as "scarier than any ugly stepsisters that came before her, especially as it appears, briefly, that she has a legitimate shot at winning the prince".
Personal life
After going to England in 1997, Dodds met fashion and advertising photographer Oliver Pearce. They later married and moved to Battersea, London. They have one child.
Filmography
Television
Year | Title | Role | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
1990 | Midnight Caller | Crystal | Episode: "Planes" |
2001 | Love in a Cold Climate | Polly | Miniseries |
2002–2004 | Spooks | Christine Dale | 10 episodes |
2004 | Agatha Christie's Poirot | Henrietta Savernake | Episode: "The Hollow" |
2006 | Not Going Out | Kate | 6 episodes |
2008 | Hotel Babylon | Katie | Season 3, Episode 6 |
2009 | Lie to Me | Gail | Episode: "Depraved Heart" |
2009 | House | Dr. Beasley | Episode: "Broken" |
2011 | Detroit 1-8-7 | Jess Harkins | 6 episodes |
2012 | Awake | Elizabeth Santoro | Episode: "Oregon" |
2012–2013 | CSI: NY | Christine Whitney | 12 episodes |
2014 | White Collar | Eva Perkins | Episode: "All's Fair" |
Stage
Year | Title | Role | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
1995 | The School for Scandal | Maria | Lyceum Theatre, New York |
1996 | Ancient History/English Made Simple | Jill | Off-Broadway |
1997 | Popcorn | Brooke Daniels | Apollo Theatre |
1999 | Hamlet | Ophelia | Young Vic Theatre |
1999 | As You Like It | Celia | Williamstown Theatre Festival |
2002 | Up for Grabs | Mindy | Wyndham's Theatre |
2005 | This Is How It Goes | Woman | Donmar Warehouse |
2006 | My Name is Rachel Corrie | Rachel Corrie | Royal Court Theatre (London, 2005-2006), The Playhouse Theatre(London, 2006), and Minetta Lane Theatre (off-Broadway, 2006) London Theatregoers' Choice Award, Best Actress winner |
Film
Year | Title | Role | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
1998 | Ever After | Marguerite De Ghent | |
1998 | The Rat Pack | May Britt | Television film |
2000 | Urbania | Deedee | |
2000 | Bait | Agent Walsh | |
2000 | Interstate 84 | Wendy | |
2001 | Sword of Honour | Virginia | Television film |
2002 | Purpose | Lisa Forrester | |
2005 | Malice Aforethought | Madeleine Cranmere | Television film |
2005 | Festival | Dina | |
2006 | Free Jimmy | Claire | Voice |
2006 | Viva Blackpool | Kitty De-Luxe | Television film |
2006 | The Contract | Sandra | |
2010 | Chatroom | Grace Rollins | |
2015 | Oceanus: Act One | Erin Kendall | Short Film |
2020 | The Will | Josie |
Video games
Year | Title | Role | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
1995 | Psychic Detective | Reporter | Voice |